Sunday, 19 October 2014

I had a blast at the Graduate School Survival Skills GHC session. It was about surviving, but most of all thriving in graduate school! I have posted session notes here. We ended the session with this version of I will survive (It's a must go-to karaoke song for all grad students! To be sung to the tune of "I Will Survive"):

At first I was afraid, I was petrifiedThinking I could never do research, I'd have to hideI spent so many nights thinking all I did was wrongI grew strongI learned how to carry onNow my groove's back!From a dark place.I just walk in and people leavewith love of my research tasteI have changed the way I workNow I know that was the keyAnd I know for just one secondGrad school doesn't bother me
And now I'll go! Walk out the doorI'm turned around nowDoubt's not welcome anymoreI used to feel so very hurt that I could cryI thought I'd crumbleI thought I'd lay down and dieOh no, not!!I will survive!As long as I know how to thinkI'll make ir out aliveI've got all my life to liveI've got all my thoughts to giveAnd I'll surviveI will survive!Hey, hey!

Stay great,
Daniella

Daniella is a Master's student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. One of her dreams is to inspire more women to embrace STEM careers and unleash their full potential. Although she is hardworking and can be very serious, she enjoys comedy and dancing, has a big sense of humour, and believes that a little kindness goes a long way!

Sunday, 12 October 2014

The "Volunteering to Promote STEM Education" panel was one of the panels I was the most excited about. It's a subject dear and near to me and I'm convinced that it's a great way to pay it forward and inspire the next generations. Several wonderful women were on the panel: Jennifer Arguello, Fauzia Chaudhry, Lindsay Hall, Linda Kekelis, and Michelle Clark.

1. Kapor Centre for Social Impact (by Jennifer Arguello)

Jennifer started by explaining who needs effective STEM education. In a general context, you would think that only K-12 students need it but it is also needed by parents, communities and educators. As a volunteer, there are many ways to bring something to the table. This can be done through inspiration (be a role model, you don't always realize you can be one, but there might actually be young students who look up to you), motivation(be a mentor), Share your skills and knowledge, bring in your cultural competency and exercise your leadership skills(managing a group of high school girls might be a very good way to develop your leadership abilities). If you want to volunteer, but cannot be physically present or you want to reach out to a broader audience, there are great virtual platforms. These include Curiosity Machine(a community of scientist, engineers and kids creating together), Nepris(connects teachers to professionals) and MentorNetv(Online Mentors and Protégés). One of the things that struck me from her talk was that there is something that you can do, and bring to the table.

2. Want to change a life? Be an effective role model (by Linda Kekelis)

It's never too soon to talk to our girls about the future...TechBridge is a non-profit organization that mainly uses hands-on projects through after school and summer programs. One important thing that Linda particularly pointed out was that having only hands-on activities was not enough in order to get girls to consider computer science or STEM careers. They were more taken like hobbies. The key ingredient that has to be included is effective role models. In order to have effective conveyors, training is a must-have (role models have to be able to communicate appropriately their tech passion and also share effectively their experiences), and little things matter. In addition to great hands-on activities for students, role models are also offered with materials to help them make their story interactive and promote perseverance.

3.Google K-12 (by Lindsay Hall)

Google has many initiatives that promotes STEM education.
Studies have shown that for women to choose Computer Science, they have to be involved very early. This means acting on their self-perception, career-perception, academic exposure since elementary, middle and high school levels. Made With Code is an example that demonstrates different things that can be made using Computer Science.

Daniella is a Master's student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. One of her dreams is to inspire more women to embrace STEM careers and unleash their full potential. Although she is hardworking and can be very serious, she enjoys comedy and dancing, has a big sense of humour, and believes that a little kindness goes a long way!

Wednesday, 10 September 2014

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve wanted to attend GHC and it’s
finally happening! No need to say that I’m super excited and can't wait to be there![I really hope
I’ll be able to behave and not jump all over the Phoenix Convention Center]

It's D-28!

In the meantime, I’m preparing the trip and setting myself up for an amazing experience. If you are attending this year’s GHC, you are
probably going through the same steps: booking your flight, hotel,… Here are
some things that might be helpful :

1) Ground
transportation from/to the airport

Options,
pricing and contact info are included below. If you find someone to
arrange ground transportation with, you can split costs!

The schedule is here. I’ve spotted some key sessions already but I
wish I could be at two places at the same time…

4) Sign up to
volunteer

Volunteering at GHC is a great way to network and share your experience with the world.
Plus, it might change your life (Read Gail’s post here) .
The deadline to be a GHC Community Volunteer is September 12, don’t miss this
opportunity! You can help with tweeting, blogging and more. Fill out this
form if you are interested.

Many thanks to everyone who shared the above information with me.If you want to share more tips or tell how you are preparing for GHC,
feel free to drop a line!